1. Swiss Consumer Price Index
2. Factory Orders (Aug)
3. Reserve Bank of Australia Rate Decision

Swiss Consumer Price Index (MoM) (SEP) (05:45 GMT, 01:45 EDT)
Consensus:     0.4%   
Previous:     0.1%

Outlook:  Positive inflation is expected to have returned for Switzerland as sharply higher energy prices are accompanied by a return in demand for exports.  Crude oil prices have remained a global issue, after the cost per barrel of the precious commodity spiked above $70 per barrel in September following supply worries in the U.S. due to Hurricane damage.  Swiss companies have had little opportunity to pass on rising prices to domestic consumers and foreign consumers alike, but a 12 percent slide in the value of the Franc against the dollar may have made the goods more appealing.  Further improving the outlook for exports over the period was the improvement in the German economy, the largest consumer of Swiss goods outside of the country. 

Previous: The Swiss CPI measure of inflation rose 0.1 percent in August with consumer spending diverging over the period.  Inflation fell to an annualized 1 percent in August from 1.2 percent in July. Rising oil and energy prices are the driving factors in the slower spending, which fell to 0.4 percent from 0.8 percent.  After narrowly avoiding an economic recession in the first quarter of the, companies have been hard pressed to pass on rising costs from higher commodity prices onto weary consumers.  Coming in below expectations, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in 18 months over the same period. Retail sales have also declined in two of the last three months. Probably the last bastion for support for the economy came from exports, which account for 50 percent of the Swiss economy.  Foreign purchases of Swiss goods have supported economic in the absence of a viable base of domestic demand, but with recent depressions in demand among the largest of destinations for Swiss goods weakening; there was little to drive prices higher from any source.

Factory Orders (AUG) (14:00 GMT, 10:00 EST)        
Consensus:     1.5%   
Previous:     -1.9%       

Outlook:  Factory orders for the month of August are expected to reflect the positive reads in recent, manufacturing indicators and rise over the period.  The consensus among economists is for an increase of 1.5 percent in the number of orders as companies look to rebuild depleted inventories to compensate for stronger sales.  With related manufacturing indicators split for the month of August, factory orders could deliver the market a surprise.  Consistent with the expected rise in orders is the greater than expected 3.3 percent jump in durable goods orders over the same period reported last week.  Goods orders were forecast to raise a sparse 0.7 percent with higher gasoline prices weighing down on consumer spending, but instead businesses increased orders to restock their emptying stores due to a surge in demand and a high level of unfilled orders over the period.  On the other hand, factory orders may go the way of the ISM factory index and Chicago purchasing index, both of which fell faster than expected over the period.  The ISM indicator fell to 53.6 in August, while prices concurrently rose to the highest level since 1990.  Manufacturing in Chicago, which has the second highest number of factory workers in the nation, reportedly fell to its lowest level since April of 2003.  According the two indicators, business leaders curbed production over the period most likely in an effort to head off a likely reduction in consumer demand with energy prices eating into citizens' disposable income.  Where factory orders go for the month of August is dependant on whether companies saw inventories dip low enough to make it necessary to restock.  Hurricane Katrina may also play its hand in determining orders.  Although the storm hit late in the month, businesses may have decided to reduce their orders ahead of the storm in an attempt to strategically avoid demand further depressed by undoubtedly higher gasoline prices to follow.

Previous:  U.S. factory orders declined in July 1.9 percent, the first such drop since January.  The $7.5 billion drop in orders was paced by less demand for computers, aircraft and machinery.  Consumer demand dipped over the period as confidence dropped to 103.6.  Optimism among Americans was negatively affected by a resurgence of oil prices that looked to keep gasoline prices higher as well as keeping the restraints on economic growth that would further influence the relatively strong rate of employment.  Despite orders decline, other factors of the indicator rose.  Shipments rose for the third consecutive month by 0.7 percent.  Unfilled orders rose 1.0 percent to its highest level on record, indicating increased demand for long-lived goods.  And inventories rose 0.5 percent for the eighteenth rise in the last nineteen months.

Reserve Bank of Australia Rate Decision (23:30GMT, 19:30EDT)
Consensus:     5.50%
Previous:     5.50%

Outlook:  Reserve bank Governor Ian McFarlane and his eight board committee are overwhelmingly expected to pass over a change in the overnight lending rate, keeping it at 5.5 percent.  The monetary policy officials last moved interest rates in March, when they increased the benchmark rate to 5.50 percent, a four-year high, in an effort to curb inflation.  Recently, economic strength has cooled while inflation has settled comfortably within the 2.0 to 3.0 percent band, which McFarlane is charged with keeping price growth between.  Inflation rose an annualized 2.5 percent in the second quarter.  At the half-year parliamentary testimony, McFarlane stated that he expects inflation to “peak” at 3.0 percent next year, leaving little reason for the bank to hike the short-term lending rate in the foreseeable future.  Besides tame price growth, economic expansion has seemingly tapered off since growing 1.3 percent in the second quarter, the largest increase in a year and a half.  Since the positive number was posted, consumer spending and the housing market, which have carried the economy through the past few quarters, have both cooled significantly.  Australians have held onto their dollars and reduced their borrowing as consumer confidence sank to the lowest level since March 2003 at 100.3.  Subsequently, business investment and exports, which are the other two large factors contributing to economic growth, are not good candidates for keeping expansion at its brisk pace.  Manufacturing production in the third quarter fell for the first time in four years painting a negative picture for future business investment.  Furthermore, the Australian dollar continues to hover near eight-year highs against the dollar, with demand for commodities remaining the saving grace for foreign demand.  The bank does not release a statement unless there is a change in policy.   The next official statement on the economy and inflation from the Bank is expected with the quarterly statement scheduled for November 7th.

Previous: On September 7th, the Reserve Bank of Australia voted to keep the benchmark lending rate at the four-year high 5.50 percent for the sixth consecutive month.  The decision to keep borrowing rates unchanged came amid signs that the recent, strong growth in the economy could be hitting the brakes while inflation stays off of policy makers' radar.  Consumer spending, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of Australia's economy, showed signs of slowing with retail sales in July unexpectedly falling and housing prices dropping in the second quarter.  Consumers' unwillingness to continue the pace of turning their dollars back into the economy despite a twelfth consecutive increase in jobs, means rising gasoline prices is taking its toll on consumers as effectively as it has around the rest of the globe.  These numbers prompted RBA governor McFarlane to say that he did not see monetary policy changing in the near term and, and looking further into the future, he doesn't see rates going one way or another.

Richard Lee is a Currency Strategist at FXCM.